(Morcster Chef Book 2) - Chapter 76 (Patreon)

After one final glance at the Happy Sunflowers, Ox turned and followed him. The twin sisters trailed after the man.

“That went well,” Arek said dryly.

“Could have gone worse,” Malissa pointed out. “Nobody blew each other up. I think we can count that as a win.”

“I’ll have to look more into them,” Belmont said, a frown crossing his weary face. “Prepare traps appropriate for their abilities. We can’t take them on a fair playing field.”

“What makes you so certain we’re going to fight them?” Arek asked. “They did just leave, you know.”

“You can never be too prepared,” Belmont replied through a yawn. He glanced at Ming, who was still staring at where Null had been standing with her hands clenched.

Malissa put a hand on Ming’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Ming. If you need to talk, we’re here.”

“Thanks,” Ming said, reaching up and taking the mask off her face. She handed it to Arek, who returned it to his travel bag. “I just can’t believe how aggravating he is. How can he abandon me and then expect me to do the same thing to you guys? It’s like he doesn’t care about anyone at all.”

“You can’t fix everyone,” Arek said, shrugging. “Sometimes people aren’t who we want them to be. It’s out of your control. But that doesn’t mean you have to tolerate them. There’s nothing wrong with cutting people like that out of your life. You already know we’ll support you with whatever you choose.”

Belmont and Malissa nodded. Ming gave them a small smile.

“Thanks guys,” she said. “I think I’m totally spent.”

“As am I,” Belmont said. “We should get some rest. I don’t know how much more we can reasonably do for Red Mount, but we can find out tomorrow.”

The four of them made their way out of the council building, ignoring the inquisitive gazes of the council members and their guards as they left. None of them were particularly eager to venture too far out into the ruined city, so they set up their tents in a small square next to several dozen other people who had the same idea.

Arek undressed and laid back in his tent. He stared up at the dark canvas above him, thoughts running amok through his mind. Red Mount had brought more questions than he’d thought possible. Vint, Ming’s status as a Blessed One, Null, and even his own magic.

The orc let out a weary sigh. He rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind.

“With some luck, this’ll count for one of the many good deeds I have to get around to doing this year,” Arek grumbled to himself. A few minutes later, he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

The following morning came faster than any of them would have preferred. Sunlight had warmed the inside of his tent, making the call of sleep all the more enticing. Arek yawned and rolled to his feet, pulling his bandoliers on and donning his travel pack.

He spent several minutes taking the tent down, then shoved it into his travel pack. He sat down by the side of a small building as he waited for the rest of the Happy Sunflowers to wake. Vint’s face flashed through the orc’s mind and his eyes narrowed.

The man had put Arek on edge. His strange difference in combat ability paired with his unique abilities was unsettling. Arek wasn’t certain if the man had any relation to the disaster that had befallen Red Mount, but it clearly had some association with the Blessed One curse.

Arek massaged his forehead. When had life suddenly gotten so complicated? Opening a restaurant was starting to seem like more and more of a distant dream.

Ming’s tent rustled and the small mage emerged from within it. She quickly packed her belongings up into her extradimensional bag and wandered over to sit down beside Arek. They didn’t say anything for several moments.

“Do you need to talk about–”

“Am I a terrible person?” Ming asked.

Arek blinked. “What?”

“People are supposed to love their family, aren’t they?” Ming asked, looking down at her hands. “I’m abandoning him again.”

“You’re far from terrible, Ming,” Arek said. “It’s more like he’s abandoning you than anything else. If you love someone, you don’t try to tear their world apart and force them to do what you want. Even if we pretend that Null is in the right – which he isn’t – it doesn’t matter. You’re a person, not a possession. You said that you wanted to stay with your team, but he completely ignored your own desires in sake of his own.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” Ming asked.

“Whatever you want,” Arek replied. “We’re here to help you, but this is your decision to make. To be honest, I’m not well qualified to speak on the subject. I’ve never had siblings, and orc society had a very different method of raising children. I never knew my birth parents. All children are treated equally and raised by the entire tribe. In a way, everyone I knew was my sibling.”

“And then Vell killed them,” Ming said, her face falling. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Arek said. “It was a long time ago. However, there is one piece of advice that I can offer. Blood does not make a family.”

Ming mulled over Arek’s words for several minutes. The rest of the Happy Sunflowers awoke, with Malissa packing her tent up and joining them a short while before Belmont did the same.

“So… what now?” Ming asked, rubbing her hands together and standing up. “Breakfast?”

“I’m not sure how good the wyrm meat is at this point,” Arek said. “We should probably find Rovin and see if there’s anything else we can do to help.”

“That’s as good an idea as any,” Malissa agreed.

Belmont nodded in agreement, so the group set off towards the council building once again.